- Residences of Retainers
of the Kaga Maeda Family
Kanazawa was a castle town of the Kaga Clan governed by the Maeda
family until 1868 (about 280 years) after Maeda Toshiie moved to
Kanazawa Castle in 1583. The residences of two of the eight chief
retainers of the Kaga Clan were located in the Naga-machi area,
where top- and middle-class samurais (members of a feudal powerful
military class) lived. With the arrival of the modern age, the appearances
of the houses changed. The alleys and the mud walls of nagayamon
gates (row house gates), however, still maintain the sight of the
old days. A mud wall is made with stones and mud put into a mold
and hardened. The roof is covered with thin wooden plates. Although
mud walls that passed more than 100 years remain, most of the mud
walls in the area were restored ones. There is a large quantity
of snow in winter in Kanazawa. In order to prevent damage to the
mud walls at the time of the spring thaw, straw mats called "komo"
is used to protect the mud walls every year from early in December
to middle of March. The Onosho canal, which flows around the
area, was the oldest canal of Kanazawa, which was an important
waterway that carried goods from the harbor to the castle town.